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India urges state banks to improve lending practices
The ministry said that it wants lenders to work on improving customer responsiveness, responsible banking, deepening financial inclusion and digitalization, and staff development. At the heart of all this would be a drive to weed out corruption and improve efficiency.
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, public policy
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Billionaire Sam Zell: BlackRock’s Larry Fink is ‘extraordinarily hypocritical’ to push social responsibility
BlackRock's Larry Fink and other CEOs are "extraordinarily hypocritical" to push companies for more social responsibility, billionaire investor Sam Zell told CNBC on Tuesday.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
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Liberia’s big school experiment
Liberia, which elected a new president last week, has among the highest percentage of out-of-school primary children in the world.
In a bid to improve the availability and quality of schools, the West African country has been carrying out a controversial experiment.- Categories
- Education
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- NGOs, public policy
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South Africa really can’t afford free education for all despite the liberation promise
The promise of free education is one South Africa’s liberation heroes have made since 1955 through the Freedom Charter document. The commission’s findings contradict the charter’s dreams and president Jacob Zuma’s compromise to students during the 2015 #FeesMustFall protests that free education was indeed possible.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- public policy
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Viewpoint: Venezuela’s likely default could teach you a lesson: Don’t invest in dictatorships
If the default occurs, they’ll only be getting what they deserve. And as an added bonus, the spectacle of a Venezuelan default — the first by a major country since Argentina’s in 2001 — would help convince investors across the world that it’s not good business to invest in state-run companies of repressive regimes.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing, public policy
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Zambia Launches Its First National Financial Inclusion Strategy
The strategy, policy and the survey report are a product of extensive stakeholder consultations with members of the public sector, private sector, civil society organizations, and academia led by the Government's National Financial Inclusion Drafting Committee. The strategy will guide Zambia in its plan to achieve the universal access and use of a broad range of affordable financial products and services.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Viewpoint: Poor policy slowing Kenya’s ICT sector as neighbors take lead
Today, much of the traction witnessed in the last seven years has slowed to a crawl. Growth in Kenya’s ICT sector has petered out and the country is now struggling to attract fresh technology financing and prove its competitiveness amidst competition from new emerging markets such as Rwanda and Ethiopia. A recent report looking into startup financing in the region found that local e-health startups barely managed to take two per cent of Sh1.9 billion in funding that went to the sector in the last three years.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- public policy
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Silicon Valley and governments have to play nice if we want to save the world
Traditionally positioned as opponents at opposite ends of the ring—the private sector wanting to make a profit, the public sector wanting to make a difference—UNGA treated both as equals and encouraged them to shake hands instead of throw punches. True, lasting, global change isn’t the responsibility of either party alone, but to move forward, they’re going to have to find some middle ground.
- Categories
- Technology
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